Maoists fire on ex-sarpanch in Odisha; two women cadres surrender

In yet another incident of Maoist violence, a group of ten Maoists raided the house of an ex-sarpanch, dragged him out and then pumped three bullets into him at Mohanpada village in Odisha’s Sundergarh district, police said.

The incident occured at Mohanpada village late on Friday night.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Sundergarh, Santosh Mohanty said the ex-sarpanch Nabakrishana alias Rabi Pradhan (60) of Mohanpada sustained injuries in his chest and legs and was rushed to Ispat General Hospital (IGH)where his condition was stated to be critical.

Soon after the incident, a joint team of the CRPF and the state police rushed to the locality and intensified patrolling.

The ASP said Maoists fled from the scene while two female cadres identified as Asha alias Parbati Majhi, 23 and Sita alias Binati Majhi, 22, both belonging to Telkoi PS in Keonjhar district, stayed back and surrendered to the police.

Both were carrying an award of Rs 1 lakh each on their heads. They have been arrested and will be produced in the court tomorrow, Mohanty said.

They were active armed cadres of the CPI (Maoist) and belonged to the Kalinganagar Division. They were active in the border areas of Rourkela-Keonjhar-Angul-Deogarh and surrendered because of disillusionment with the ideology of the party and sexual harassment at the hands of senior male cadres, Mohanty said.

Both had joined the organisation in December, 2009 and were working under Sushil alias Basant, Secretary of Kalinganagar Division, he added.

The ASP said the duo, which was also part of many Praja Courts and collected money from businessmen and contractors in and around Kalinganagar area, found use of small children in violent Maoist activities disturbing.